I saw Jane’s Addiction open for the Ramones in a basement ballroom in Pittsburgh, 18 years-old, barely knew what punk rock was yet (I was from the rural Western Pennsylvania sticks, pre-internet, no good radio stations) and it’s still one of the scariest, wildest, best shows I’ve ever been to. I understand the love/hate vibes they bring out, especially in discerning musicphiles, but I still hold a torch for them for that seminal moment in my own music education.
Some others not mentioned, probably less cool, certainly more accessible, but seminal in my more remote musical landscape of the time, at least until I got to college in the big city—
-The Replacements, Pleased to Meet Me (Not their best record, perhaps, but the first on my radar)
-The Smiths, The Queen is Dead/Louder Than Bombs (I also saw them live in 1986 before I heard the recordings, which also made these records important)
-Public Enemy, It Takes a Nation of Millions...
-Camper Van Beethoven, Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart (and their later 1989 Key Lime Pie tour stop in Pittsburgh was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen, still)
Steve Baker and I were friends in New York in the mid-1970s. He came back from a trip to London, called me on a Sunday, and said, “I’ve got some records you’ve got to hear.” He came over with the first Stiff singles: Costello, Lowe, others. Great “ears” as they used to say in the music biz.
Brilliant selection. I’d add Big Black’s Atomiser, Loop’s Heaven’s End, Melvins’ Ozma, Cows’ Daddy Has A Tail and the Bad Seeds’ Your Funeral for bangers of that period (ish) :)
“Nothing’s Shocking” was exactly what I needed to hear when it came out. The new “alternative” wave really broke open the black-and-white divides in music fandom. Before that, in high school you were either a classic rock Hesher, a metal head, a punk, a deadhead, or r&b pop radio norm. Most stayed in their clique, and, in the Groups with stricter rules, like Punk, if you listen to anything different, you were chastised by your peers. Alternative, grunge, punk-Funk, jam band, weird indie Lo-fi bands made it ok to listen to the bands that were outside of the margins.
I saw Jane’s Addiction open for the Ramones in a basement ballroom in Pittsburgh, 18 years-old, barely knew what punk rock was yet (I was from the rural Western Pennsylvania sticks, pre-internet, no good radio stations) and it’s still one of the scariest, wildest, best shows I’ve ever been to. I understand the love/hate vibes they bring out, especially in discerning musicphiles, but I still hold a torch for them for that seminal moment in my own music education.
Some others not mentioned, probably less cool, certainly more accessible, but seminal in my more remote musical landscape of the time, at least until I got to college in the big city—
-The Replacements, Pleased to Meet Me (Not their best record, perhaps, but the first on my radar)
-The Smiths, The Queen is Dead/Louder Than Bombs (I also saw them live in 1986 before I heard the recordings, which also made these records important)
-Public Enemy, It Takes a Nation of Millions...
-Camper Van Beethoven, Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart (and their later 1989 Key Lime Pie tour stop in Pittsburgh was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen, still)
-Fishbone, Truth and Soul
I love Jim Dickinson's production on Pleased To Meet Me....
I wish I had known you in high school. I feel like we would've been good pals!!
I would have had one....sigh///
Jane's Addiction covering The Grateful Dead classic "Ripple"!
of course!
I would add:
Meat Puppets - Up On the Sun
Bad Brains - I Against I
Einstürzende Neubauten - Halber Mensch
Pixies - Surfer Rosa
Nomeansno - Wrong
Naked Raygun - Jettison
The Young Gods - Red Water
Big Black - Atomizer
Beasts of Bourbon - Sour Mash
Steve Baker and I were friends in New York in the mid-1970s. He came back from a trip to London, called me on a Sunday, and said, “I’ve got some records you’ve got to hear.” He came over with the first Stiff singles: Costello, Lowe, others. Great “ears” as they used to say in the music biz.
Brilliant selection. I’d add Big Black’s Atomiser, Loop’s Heaven’s End, Melvins’ Ozma, Cows’ Daddy Has A Tail and the Bad Seeds’ Your Funeral for bangers of that period (ish) :)
Raising my hand for:
Pixies-Surfer Rosa and Doolittle
My Bloody Valentine-Isn’t Anything
Meat Puppets- II and Up On the Sun
And how is it that some of these bands (especially Los Lobos) are not in the Rock & Roll HOF? Probably a rhetorical question…
Their not????? Wow. They really really should be.
“Nothing’s Shocking” was exactly what I needed to hear when it came out. The new “alternative” wave really broke open the black-and-white divides in music fandom. Before that, in high school you were either a classic rock Hesher, a metal head, a punk, a deadhead, or r&b pop radio norm. Most stayed in their clique, and, in the Groups with stricter rules, like Punk, if you listen to anything different, you were chastised by your peers. Alternative, grunge, punk-Funk, jam band, weird indie Lo-fi bands made it ok to listen to the bands that were outside of the margins.
I would add to your wonderful list:
Primus -“Suck on This”
Meat Puppets - “Up on the Sun”
The Minutemen - “ Double Nickels on the Dime”
Bad Brains - “Black Dots”
Fugazi - “Repeater and 13 Songs”
Pylon - “Gyrate”
I like the concept of making it ok to those who look outside the margins......